Chapter 18: The First Ghost Falls

Seo Yi-han kicked the agwi floundering on the floor, sending it tumbling to the end of the corridor. Then he grabbed me and ran.

The light disappeared, and the lesser spirits, their attention drawn by the agwi’s noise, advanced toward the end of the corridor.

Kim Ji-ho, who had an uncanny sense of self-preservation, didn’t miss the chance and ran after us.

They say cockroaches have an IQ of 300 when fleeing. He was the exact copy.

We ran to the cafeteria at lightning speed, and without even catching our breath, unlocked the door. Even after safely entering, we couldn’t breathe loudly, so we covered our mouths with our hands and panted.

“Soo-ah… what about your nails… Does it hurt a lot?”

Han Bo-bae, catching her breath, made a sad face looking at Yoon Soo-ah’s peeled nails. She had scraped the floor desperately, leaving no nail intact. It must have been very painful, but Yoon Soo-ah didn’t show it.

Han Bo-bae pulled out a red handkerchief from her pocket and tried to wrap it around the worst one, Yoon Soo-ah’s right middle finger. Seo Yi-han stopped her.

“There should be cooking alcohol in the kitchen. Disinfect with that first, then we’ll go.”

“Ah, okay!”

“Thank you, everyone…”

Shouldn’t Kim Ji-ho be excluded from the thanks? Even he seemed guilty, scratching his head without meeting Yoon Soo-ah’s eyes.

Seo Yi-han left the others to rest and approached me, holding out his hand.

I naturally assumed he wanted to go to the kitchen together and took his hand. But Seo Yi-han scratched the bridge of his nose and smiled awkwardly.

“I meant to ask for the kitchen key… You rest too, Jae-yoon. I’ll just bring back the braised ribs and alcohol.”

‘f*ck!’ My face instantly flushed red. ‘He’s so obsessed with my hand, so naturally I thought…’

I flung his hand away and stepped back. Fortunately, the only light source was the phone screen. No matter how good his eyesight, in this dim light, he wouldn’t notice my flushed state all the way to my neck.

I covered my neck with my hand to hide my embarrassment and said brusquely, “Let’s go together. I told you not to move alone.”

“Alright then.”

Seo Yi-han answered calmly and took my hand again, the one I had just thrown away. He lifted our joined hands and gently shook them. Then he turned his back and started walking.

“Shall we go?”

…I could bet my entire fortune that he smiled with his eyes again when he said that.

***

It seemed that the system’s ‘surprise event’ ended with the locked cafeteria and the appearance of the agwi. Fortunately, the braised ribs were where they were supposed to be. And we found the clear rice wine to disinfect Yoon Soo-ah’s hand.

I stuffed the braised ribs into a plastic bag and ate a few bites myself. I was too hungry to hold back. But I couldn’t eat my fill. It was leftovers from today’s dinner, so there wasn’t much to begin with.

Seo Yi-han just watched me eat, as if he wasn’t hungry. Then he opened the refrigerator without hesitation and took out some leftover japchae and various namul.

“Eat with me.”

“…It’s fine. Aren’t you hungry? Eat. And let’s give some to the kids.”

“I’m fine. And they didn’t say they were hungry either, so maybe they’re okay?”

I doubt it. I heard they just grabbed something from the store for dinner. I came here after stuffing myself with alcohol and snacks…

Thinking about it, I felt like trash for being the only one eating the braised ribs. I should be the least hungry right now.

Feeling guilty, I lost my appetite and quietly sealed the bag of braised ribs. Still, Seo Yi-han didn’t give up. He picked up some japchae and brought it to my mouth.

When I stubbornly kept my mouth shut, he grumbled softly and put the japchae into his own mouth.

After finishing eating, we went out, disinfected Yoon Soo-ah’s nails, and gave them the leftover food. As I guessed, the kids were very hungry and started eating hurriedly.

They’ve probably never had to worry about food, clothing, or shelter in their lives… Seeing them desperately eating leftovers made me feel sorry for them.

And my resolve to leave them here while we go was strengthened. Yoon Soo-ah was injured, and Han Bo-bae was severely shaken. Kim Ji-ho would only cause trouble if we took him, so he was excluded from the start.

“You guys wait here. Only Seo Yi-han and I will go.”

“But.”

Yoon Soo-ah, who was frantically eating japchae, made rabbit eyes. Seo Yi-han gently persuaded her.

“It’s okay. This is the last one, so Jae-yoon said two people are enough.”

“Right. It’ll be more troublesome if we all go together. Just rest.”

At the word ‘troublesome’, Yoon Soo-ah and Han Bo-bae instantly made sullen faces. Kim Ji-ho seemed very sorry to Yoon Soo-ah, as he was picking out only the meat from the japchae and giving it all to her.

“Then we’ll go.”

“We’ll be back.”

The flashing window in front of me showed exorcism power 100% and insight 18. If it weren’t for Seo Yi-han’s suspicion lowering it, it would have been max level. What a waste.

We walked silently to the hallway where we had kicked the agwi earlier.

The creature, displaced from its territory by the system’s trick, was dragging its long arms and spinning around aimlessly, as if looking for a way up. Then it spotted us and approached, smacking its lips again.

I quickly opened the bag I was holding and threw the whole thing in front of the agwi. The braised ribs spilled on the floor, emitting a savory smell.

As soon as the agwi saw it, it rushed like a dog and licked up what had fallen on the floor.

No matter how much of a human trash he was, he was still human. Seeing him act like a beast without dignity or discernment made me resolve to live a good life.

Originally, I planned to recite the memorized dialogue like a textbook, but I couldn’t bring myself to mention ‘mother’s cooking’ or something.

I couldn’t utter the words, ‘Your mother would be sad to see you like this.’ Would she only be sad? She’d probably try to follow him in death.

“Jae-yoon.”

As I approached the agwi, sighing deeply with a complicated expression, Seo Yi-han’s mouth tightened. I motioned for him to stay back and began to speak calmly.

“Lee Ji-hoon, do you remember your name?”

The agwi, which had been frantically gnawing even the ribs, reacted to its name. Though ‘reacted’ just meant it stopped its gluttonous eating for a moment. Stopping eating was a special reaction for the agwi.

“Do you know why you ended up like this?”

“Uu…”

Lee Ji-hoon seemed to try to answer ‘yes’. After confirming that the creature could understand basic speech, I continued.

“Eat that and go to the afterlife.”

“…”

“If you don’t go, you’ll stay like this forever. It’s better to pay off your karma by reincarnating as a lower being. Eventually, you’ll meet all the people you tormented, over and over. Then you’ll be the weak one.”

Regarding reincarnation and karma, I only knew what I had heard from my mother. Some might say who believes that nonsense, but I am the son of a shaman, so I believe it firmly.

And seeing Lee Ji-hoon suffer as an agwi, not just an ordinary evil spirit, it was clearly a punishment for his sins. Thinking that way, it was more strange to believe there was no karma.

Recalling my mother’s teachings, I chose my words.

“If you pay it off, someday you might be born again as a human. Then you can meet your mother again.”

At the word ‘mother’, Lee Ji-hoon flinched noticeably. Well, he’d have to repay the same filial impiety to that mother… but I didn’t say that. Anyway, he wouldn’t remember after reincarnation.

Lee Ji-hoon licked up all the braised ribs from the floor, then vanished as if he had never been there. Unlike my worries, the agwi ascended simply, like in the original game.

And the system announced the boss clear congratulation and reward in blue text, which I saw for the first time.

[First Ghost: Agwi, Cleared! Congratulations.]

[Insight 18 has accumulated.]

[Exorcism power will be reset.]

The new building auditorium area and the store are set as ghost-free zones. Feel free to rest.]

So even conglomerate heirs eat cup ramen. That was my thought as I watched Seo Yi-han and Han Bo-bae expertly tear open cup ramen and pour hot water. Seo Yi-han even peeled a triangle kimbap with quick hand movements and handed it to me.

“…”

“What?”

“No, I was just thinking you’re good at peeling…”

In dramas, the sons of conglomerates can’t peel triangle kimbap. Then the female lead would grumble and peel it for them… I wasn’t expecting that from Seo Yi-han, but somehow it tasted bitter. Because this guy even peels kimbap well.

After the agwi disappeared pitifully at my words, as the system notified, no ghosts roamed the second-floor auditorium and first-floor store.

After confirming that, I immediately led the kids from the cafeteria to the classroom and then to the store.

Of course, it was a bit troublesome because of the swarming lesser spirits on the way to the fourth-floor classroom, but once we got there, no ghosts were seen.

The agwi had roamed the fourth floor and devoured them cleanly, and the remaining spirits had all fled to other floors, making it an unintended safe zone.

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